RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is known as a wireless communication technology using a contactless IC card or a contactless IC tag. NFC (Near Field Communication) is conceptually similar to RFID in that the contactless IC card is used. RFID is sometimes capable of communication at a distance of approximately a few meters, and meanwhile, NFC performs communication by bringing antennas close to each other at an approximate distance of 2 centimeters to 4 centimeters or less, and is used differently from RFID. Accordingly, separately from RFID, a standardizing body called the NFC forum has developed the technical specifications of NFC, and has prescribed the developed technical specifications as ISO/IEC14443 and ISO/IEC18092.
Among smart phones and tablet terminals in recent years, those which mount an NFC module thereon have gradually entered the stage. In NFC, there are defined: passive communication in which a reader/writer performs communication with the contactless IC card or the contactless IC tag, which does not have a power supply; and active communication in which two instruments, each including a power supply, perform communication with each other while alternately serving as initiators and targets. The NFC standard prescribes three functions, which are: a card emulation function to replace a role of the contactless IC card; a reader/writer function for capturing an NFC tag; and an inter-instrument communication (P2P) function to communicate between NFC devices.
The reader/writer function is capable of capturing four types of contactless IC cards from Type 1 to Type 4, such as Felica (registered trademark) and Mifare (registered trademark). In NFC, it is necessary to bring an NFC antenna of one instrument close to an NFC antenna of other instrument at a distance where both of the instruments are communicable with each other. However, the reader/writer function is capable of reading and writing data from and to the contactless IC card that does not have a power supply by accessing the contactless IC card concerned, and is capable of starting and ending the communication by only bringing both of the instruments close to each other. Therefore, in the smart phone or the tablet terminal, which can be held by one hand, the reader/writer function is used in a variety of fields such as a smart poster and electronic payment.